Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you guys for reviewing. Here's chapter two.


Kaede gently pressed the cool medicine to the stranger's side. He winced at first but soon relaxed, feeling the herbs take effect. Everyone else watched in silence, mind Inuyasha who was off in the river washing the smell of the man's blood from him.

The man turned to Kaede. "Thank you, kind priestess." Kaede nodded, heading outside the hut, saying something about getting clean water. After she left, the man slowly rolled his head over so he could get a good view of Sango. His eyes peered behind her, to the Hiraikotsu, which sat against the wall. He then looked back at her. "That weapon of yours... you must be her."

Sango gave him a confused look. "Pardon?"

He cleared his throat before speaking once more. "I've been told the Demon Slayer, Sango uses a large weapon like that." He motioned towards it. "You are her, are you not? Please, if you are, I beg assistance..."

Kagome spoke up, noticing Sango's distraught. "Why do you need help?"

He paled instantly, turning his head to the side. He tried to hide the fear reverberating in his voice. "A... a demon. A demon woman." he began. "She arrived in our village during the night. In one moon's passing, the wench slaughtered twelve of our villagers... she wouldn't even spare the women and children...!" he gripped the blanket covering him. His knuckles were clean white. "I escaped. Barely..." he looked back to Sango. "Our village has hired demon slayers once before. It was only for a small demon, but we know of their strength. So please... demon slayer Sango. Help us."

Sango gave him a pitiful look. "I see..." her gaze fell to her hands. "I will help. I can't say no."

The man smiled, hope flooding into his eyes. "You tell the truth? Oh thank you..."

Sango nodded kindly. "Yes. I will assist you."

Kagome turned to her. "Should we go with you Sango-chan? I can get Inuyasha. I'm not too sure where Miroku-sama got to though..."

Sango shook her head. "I don't think it will be necessary to bring everyone for one demon. But if I run into the hoshi on my way out, I'll be sure to ask him to go." Sango stood, taking hold of Hiraikotsu. "Come on Kirara." the small demon lept from her place on the floor and followed after her mistress.


Miroku sighed as he watched the pair of girls walk away from him. Sadly for him, all the young maidens in the village were now married since he'd last been here. "What a shame..." he muttered, turning and heading back to Kaede's hut. "The others are probably curious as to where I am anyway."

Before he could take the pathway to the hut, he noticed a familiar figure going towards the outskirts of town. "Sango!" he called. "Where are you off to?"

She stopped, turning. "Oh... Hoshi-sama." she said quietly, not expecting to see him. "Hello. Where have you been?"

"Oh, um." he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "I was in the bath house."

"Hm." she gave him a look. "Regardless... I've been hired for an extermination."

"Really?"

Sango nodded. "Yes. The trip there is half a day. So all in all, I should be gone two days tops." she prepared to climb aboard Kirara. "So I'll see you then."

"Wait- Sango."

"Yes?"

"I'll go with you." he smiled kindheartedly. "It will be a lot safer you know."

Sango paused. She didn't even have to ask. She turned away from view, hiding the smile threatening to spread. "Really? Alright, I guess that makes sense." she hopped onto Kirara and made room for Miroku. She cleared her throat and regained her composure. "Alright then... lets go."


Kirara landed softly on the grass, letting her two passengers down. The day was almost over, the sky had changed into a calm orange hue. The two had arrived at the village. It wasn't in terrible shape, but Sango and Miroku could clearly identify a struggle here.

Above all the damage, they both noticed the village was full of flowers. Small, yellow ones.

Several buildings were damaged. Holes were slashed through some walls, and some gash marks sat in the ground. Another thing, no one was outside. Cautiously, Sango made her way into the village, hand gripping Hiraikotsu's band. "Hoshi-sama... do you sense anything?"

Miroku searched the area. "Hmm... no, not right now." he proceeded further. "There are only humans here. They're in their homes." Not surprising. After a deadly attack by a demon it's only natural to want to stay inside. Sango approached the nearest hut and knocked gently on the door.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" she knocked again. "I was sent here by one of your villagers... a man named Ryuu. He hired me. I know of your demon troubles." she knocked once more. "I'm here to help you." A short pause followed. Then, Sango could make out the quiet thumps of footsteps approaching. The door slid open a few inches and a young female face appeared. She looked Sango up and down with her blue eyes before opening the door all the way. She was some-what short, had long black hair tied in a low ponytail and wore a short blue kimono.

"...Come in." she murmured. She stepped inside, Sango and Miroku in suit. Kirara scampered in as well, perching atop Sango's shoulder.

The hut was dark. All of the blinds were closed and no candles were lit. The young girl, who Sango presumed to be around thirteen, sat down in front of the unlit fireplace. Miroku sat down first, motioning for Sango to sit next to him. After a deep breath, the girl spoke up. "You're the demon slayer. My father, Ryuu is the one who made it to you." she squinted at them. "My father... is he alive? Did he survive the trip?"

Sango nodded, reassuringly. "He's fine. The village priestess where I was found is helping him."

The girl sighed in relief, placing a hand over her chest. Miroku noticed it was heavily bandaged. "You were hurt as well?" he asked. She looked down at her own hand and nodded.

"My name is Kirumo. My father sought the assistance of the demon slayers the moment he heard of the demon's existence. But sadly, our village doesn't have much. We are only known as the village in the flowers..." she looked towards the door. "But other than that, we don't have much money or crops. The only money we are able to make is from the special pollen that comes from the flowers. It is a very valuable medicine."

"The pollen is?" Sango asked curiously.

Kirumo nodded. "We gather it and mix it in order to make our medicine. But we don't make too much money from it... so we couldn't afford a demon extermination. Then, the attack happened." Miroku noticed her paling. "The demon woman... who called herself Ritsuko, killed many, and wounded even more." she sighed. "Most of the wounded were saved because of our village remedy."

"The pollen medicine?" Miroku questioned.

She nodded. "If it weren't for that, at least twice as many would be dead."

"So... tell us more about this demon woman. Ritsuko was it?" Sango asked.

Kirumo's expression shifted to more of a serious look. "She arrived with the flowers. This was her first time attacking our quiet town."

"I see..." Sango said, quietly. "Why did she suddenly attack you? Why this year?"

Kirumo bit her lip, closing her eyes.

Miroku gave her a look of concern. "Kirumo? What's wrong."

She took another breath. "The demon woman, Ritsuko... wasn't always a demon. For most of her life... she was my older sister. And lived here. As a human."


A/N: Thank you for reading. One review is all I need to keep going. :)